Imagine being forced to flee from the place you call home in the knowledge that you will probably never return. Everything you know in life is ripped from under you. Your journey to your new ‘home’ is marred with violence, fear, and uncertainty.
When you reach the promised land you find yourself holed up in a room day in day out with very little money. ‘The room’ was frequently referred to by asylum seekers at Tuesday’s public meeting to discuss the funding emergency at Mayo Intercultural Action. Funding for MIA runs out on May 7 and there were a lot of emotional users of the service present who highlighted the enormous effect MIA has had on their lives.
“We’re like animals,” is how one woman described her daily struggle.
That’s the reality for the hundreds of asylum seekers living in Mayo, many of whom are highly educated to third level standard and in some cases doctorate level. But those who haven’t attained the same standards in formal education are not worth any less as human beings and feel the same pain and suffering day in, day out.
Mayo has been a home to thousands of asylum seekers over the last few years. But Mayo has not always been welcoming. But the advent and growth of MIA drew out the kindness inherent in so many Mayo people whose eyes were opened to the extreme and heart wrenching struggles of so many living on the periphery of our communities.
MIA took them from ‘the room’, integrated them into community, gave them a sense of purpose and worth, showed them how to live among the Mayo natives, and in turn we are slowing learning just how enriched our lives can be by welcoming and sharing our county with so many people who now call Mayo home.
“A shattered dream. Ballyhaunis will be like a graveyard. MIA is like a pillar. We must make sure this group does not go down, it will be like taking away the hope of the people, taking away our joy,” was the heartfelt plea of one women.
Another described how MIA is set apart from other organisations: “It’s the way MIA do it. They are interested in everybody: The women, the men, the singles, the children.”
Another women felt such relief to be out of ‘the room’. MIA provided that opportunity.
The children also greatly benefited. During the summer the kids had activities to look forward to that took them out of ‘the room’. “When the kids asked me what they would be doing this summer I had such pain in my heart because I had no answer,” a mother cried.
And that’s just one strand of the unwavering work of MIA. It’s not just asylum seekers and refugees who have benefited from their Trojan work. Eastern Europeans, anyone who has moved to the west of Ireland from outside this country, have benefited from the vast range of services provided by MIA which ranges from language classes; education and employment programmes; primary health care project; information, advocacy and support for migrants; intercultural youth work.
MIA has commissioned and published reports on immigration and integration and has won awards for its work. It is an organisation that is regarded throughout Ireland and abroad and one which Mary Robinson frequently refers to when making speeches.
But MIA is in financial dire straits. Without core funding the service will cease. It will be like a death knell for those who depend so deeply on its services. They need stationery, postage stamps, a place to base their service, and most of all they need money. If you can help please do.
Toni Bourke Editor [email protected]
